


You Flower, You Feast

by HarperJean



Series: Every Word I Say [3]
Category: Hanson (Band)
Genre: Cheating, Deleted Scene, F/M, Inspired by Music, Light Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 12:51:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11313780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarperJean/pseuds/HarperJean
Summary: Zac is jealous of Phoebe's new relationship.





	You Flower, You Feast

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by "Woman" by Harry Styles 
> 
> Part of the "Lost Without Each Other" universe. Enjoy!

_I hope you can see the shape I've been in_  
_While he's touching your skin_  
_This thing upon me, howls like a beast_  
_You flower, you feast_

#### July, 2011 

“Who ya texting?” Taylor asked playfully as he flopped down on the porch next to Phoebe. Diana and Walker were having their annual Fourth of July lawn party, a tradition Phoebe could recall stretching back to her earliest memories. She squinted as she looked up at Taylor, the sun directly behind his already golden hair. He handed her a beer and she opened it on the lip of the porch. “You’ve been looking at your phone a lot today.” 

Phoebe shrugged, matching his playful tone. “You all aren’t the only people I talk to.” 

“I find that hard to believe.” 

“Hey!” 

Phoebe giggled and took a big swig of beer, looking around at all the faces that she loved. The Hansons, of course, but also a smattering of neighbors and a gaggle of Zoe’s young friends. She couldn’t believe that Zoe was already a teenager. Time flies. 

“So are you going to tell me or…?” 

“Fine, I’m texting Gideon.” 

“Wait…” 

“Yes.” 

Phoebe picked at the label on her bottle, not wanting to meet Taylor’s inquisitive stare. Gideon was a boy from high school who she had reconnected with not too long ago. He was still living in Tulsa, a hometown boy who didn't escape or run away. They ran into each other at a bar one night after a gig, and they got coffee the next afternoon. He was nice to her. Almost too nice. She had never really dated before...other than Zac. She had mentioned a new male friend to Taylor casually, making it sound like he was just that. A friend. 

“Are you guys dating?” 

It felt wrong to keep anything from her de facto older brother, so she nodded shyly. She didn’t know why she felt so weird about it, but something made her want to keep this bit of information a secret. 

“Don’t tell Zac. Please.” 

“Phoebs…” 

“Please, Tay.” 

Taylor turned away and gulped his own beer. They sat like that for a moment, in sun soaked silence, until Tay said, “You should invite him over.” 

“Here?!” Phoebe blurted in response.

“Yes, here. Why not? Everyone else is here.” 

Her gaze fell on Zac, who was playing with Shep and Everett. Kate was only a few feet away. 

“He has a wife, Phoebs. It doesn’t matter anymore.” 

She looked down at her phone, and typed an invitation. 

***

“So wait, am I supposed to know this guy?” Zac said a few hours later, after the sun had gone down and the fire was roaring. Penny and Zoe were spinning wildly with sparklers, while Ezra and Avery passed out s’more ingredients, Mac burning his first attempt at a golden brown marshmallow. Ike had cornered Gideon, and they were deep in conversation on the other side of the fire pit. 

Gideon had arrived not long after the text was sent, and Phoebe introduced him, a smile plastered on her face. “If this is too weird...you don’t have to stay,” she sputtered after all the over-zealous handshakes. 

Gideon placed his hand on the small of her back and smiled down on her. “It’s okay, Phoebs. You asked me to come, of course I’m going to come.” He gave her a peck on the forehead, and she winced. She still didn't love the small, doting gestures that Gideon seemed so willing to do. She was so used to feeling comfortable with the guys, there was no need for that kind of stuff. 

It was in that moment, Phoebe glanced over at Zac. They locked eyes and something flashed across his face. Anger? Maybe. She couldn’t quite place it. The rest of the evening passed pleasantly enough. Taylor and Ike helped conversation flow whenever they sensed Phoebe might need some assistance. They talked her up, telling Gideon about the time she stepped in to open for them last minute, and how the crowd erupted for her every time she took a bass solo. She wondered what he and Ike were talking about now. 

“I don’t know, you might have run into him around town?” Phoebe suggested, trying not to draw attention to herself across the fire. 

“It just seems weird.” 

“Why?” 

“We spend a lot of time together, I thought I would know who you were dating.” 

“Well...it’s pretty new, I guess.” 

“Oh. I don’t like him.” 

“Zac.” 

“He’s not good enough for you.” 

“Oh my God, shut UP.” 

They sat for a moment, a million words zooming between them in the silence. Phoebe hated this. She hated how their skin always buzzed when they were together. She hated how well he knew her. 

“You don’t like him as much as he likes you, right?” 

“You...you have no way of knowing that.”

“But I’m right.” 

“Shut up, Zac.” 

“I don’t think you should be with him.”

“Is this….” Phoebe caught herself and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Is this a fucking joke, Zachary? You realize that you’re married right? You don’t get to fucking have a wife and also tell me I can’t date other people. We aren’t together! We haven’t been for five years!” She glanced over at Gideon and saw Ike look over at them, clearly seeing their aggressive expressions. She rolled her eyes. She couldn’t do anything without one of these brothers seeing. “I’m going inside.” She stood up with a huff and glared at Isaac, hoping he would get the message. _Keep talking to him, I need to be alone. Luckily when she turned back around on the porch, there was no one following her._

She walked up to Tay’s room and flung herself on the bed without bothering to turn on the light. She and Zac would always be complicated. It was as if they wrote the book on it, and it frustrated her to no end. They had so many happy memories of just being best friends, that often she forgot about the pain. She forgot about the night of his wedding when she held her cello so tightly she got bruises on her thighs. She forgot about the screaming fights in the back of the tour bus, the other two brothers pretending not to hear. 

“Hey.” 

Phoebe sat up quickly, gasping so hard that she started coughing, which made Zac laugh. “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me," she said, a reflexive smile already spreading across her face. She loved making him laugh so much that she forgot she was supposed to be angry, just for a moment. 

“Yeah, sorry.” 

He sat down next to her, trying to figure out what to say next. She molded her face back to a stern expression as he began to speak. “I just...I hate how I feel when I think about you with someone else. I’m selfish, I know.” 

Phoebe looked at him and narrowed her gaze. This wasn’t fair, and they both knew it. But she didn’t stop him when his face got closer to hers. She didn’t stop him when she felt his fingertips slip under the cuffs of her denim shorts. 

Before she knew it, he was on top of her. They didn’t kiss, because maybe that would be considered cheating. Maybe that would be too much for him to forgive himself for. She could feel his erection press against her leg, his fingers exploring further than they had in years. He didn’t take off any clothes and she didn’t either. Again, there was a line they wordlessly agreed to stay behind. He slid his hand into her panties, making her let out a soft moan. She should have told him to stop. 

She didn’t. 

She hated that he knew exactly what to do to make her whimper. Her hips bucked and she grasped the back of his t-shirt, the two of them falling into a rhythm, pretending there wasn’t fabric in between them. When she finished, she buried her face in his shoulder, trying her best to muffle the sound that erupted from her throat, praying that there was no one else in the house. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, and she nuzzled her face into her hair. 

Zac stood up and looked down at her, a smug grin on his lips. 

“Why did you do that?” 

He shrugged, and went downstairs, rejoining the party. Phoebe looked around Taylor’s room, hoping maybe it was a portal to a time when nothing was quite this complicated. 

She flinched as the firework show began.


End file.
